A poem by Alexander Pushkin – Pouchkine, Pooshkin (1799-1837), in English translation
I love you; though it makes me beat,
Though vain it seems, and melancholy –
Yet to this shameless, hapless folly
I’ll be confessing at your feet.
It ill becomes me: that I’m older,
Time I should be more sensible…
And yet the frivolous disorder
Fills every jitter of my soul.
Say you’ll be gone; I’m jaded, yawning;
You’re back; I’m sad, I suffer through –
Yet how can I be clear, from owning,
My angel, all my care for you!
When off the stairs your weightless footfall,
Your dress’s rustle, reaches me,
Your voice, as maidenly, as youthful –
I lose my senses instantly.
You smile at me; I’m glad, immensely;
Ignore me; and I’m sad, again;
Your pallid hand will recompense me
For the whole day of utter pain.
When you’re embroidering, or setting
Your eye on something fair, or letting
Your hair amuse you; I’m beguiled;
In silence, reddening, all forgetting
I watch you like a spellbound child.
But then how wretched my existence,
How desolate my jealous pain,
When you set out into the distance
To wander in the cold and rain;
And then your solitary grievings,
Or, in the corner, twosome talks,
Or twosome piano in the evenings,
Or twosome trips, or twosome walks…
Alina! just a little mercy –
I dare not even mention love:
For sins I have been guilty of,
My angel, of your care unworthy…
But feign it! All can be achieved
By that absorbing gaze, believe me…
Oh, it takes little to deceive me –
I cannot wait to be deceived!
translated by: Genia Gurarie
email: egurarie@princeton.edu
http://www.princeton.edu/~egurarie/
Copyright ©:
Genia Gurarie
A few random poems:
- XIII: Some Verses: On A Report On The Death Of The Author by William Alexander
- Sonnet 100: Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget’st so long by William Shakespeare
- Caledonia: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- Sick Leave by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Passing Of The Primroses poem – Alfred Austin
- Orlando Furioso Canto 7 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Владимир Набоков – Скитальцы
- Олег Григорьев – Много нас по подобию божию
- After the Sea-Ship. by Walt Whitman
- The Dark Hour by William Henry Davies
- The Horn Of Egremont Castle by William Wordsworth
- Guenevere by Sara Teasdale
- Fireflies in the Garden by Robert Frost
- Sonnet. A Dream, After Reading Dante’s Episode Of Paulo And Francesca poem – John Keats poems
- Dedication To A Book Of Stories Selected From The Irish Novelists by William Butler Yeats
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Robert Burns: To A Louse: On Seeing One On A Lady’s Bonnet, At Church
- Robert Burns: To Mr. M’Adam, Of Craigen-Gillan: In answer to an obliging Letter he sent in the commencement of my poetic career.
- Robert Burns: To John Kennedy, Dumfries House:
- Robert Burns: The Inventory: In answer to a mandate by the Surveyor of the Taxes
- Robert Burns: Address To The Unco Guid, Or The Rigidly Righteous:
- Robert Burns: Here’s His Health In Water :
- Robert Burns: The Rantin’ Dog, The Daddie O’t:
- Robert Burns: The Vision:
- Robert Burns: Epistle To James Smith:
- Robert Burns: The Ordination : For sense they little owe to frugal Heav’n- To please the mob, they hide the little giv’n.
- Robert Burns: The Author’s Earnest Cry And Prayer: To the Right Honourable and Honourable Scotch Representatives in the House of Commons.
- Robert Burns: The Twa Dogs: A Tale
- Robert Burns: The Auld Farmer’s New-Year-Morning Salutation To His Auld Mare, Maggie: On giving her the accustomed ripp of corn to hansel in the New Year.
- Robert Burns: Scotch Drink :
- Robert Burns: Address To The Deil:
- Robert Burns: The Cotter’s Saturday Night: Inscribed to R. Aiken, Esq., of Ayr.
- Robert Burns: Merry Hae I Been Teethin A Heckle:
- Robert Burns: For A’ That:
- Robert Burns: The Jolly Beggars: A Cantata:
- Robert Burns: Adam Armour’s Prayer:
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1937) was a Russian poet, playwright and prose writer, founder of the realistic trend in Russian literature, literary critic and theorist of literature, historian, publicist, journalist; one of the most important cultural figures in Russia in the first third of the 19th century.